Like clockwork, here's your Wednesday batch of comics for reading on a beautiful spring day. Or a crisp autumn day, if you're reading this from the Southern Hemisphere. Or a day-less season-less day if you're reading this from the International Space Station. Shall we?

First Issues

To kick things off, Mark Millar and Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons team up for the espionage miniseries The Secret Service, which is about the decline of the American empire in the 21st century. Horror author Caitlin R. Kiernan brings Dancy Flammarion, the monster-slayer from her Alabaster tales to comics in Dark Horse's Alabaster: Wolves. Here's the synopsis of that:

For nearly as long as she can remember, Dancy Flammarion has fought monsters, cutting a bloody swath through the demons and dark things of the world, aimed like a weapon by forces beyond her control or questioning. But now, for the first time, Dancy finds herself alone-and the wolves are closing in.

There are also new issues of Saucer Country, Unwritten, Smoke & Mirrors, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Adventure Time, Frankenstein Agent Of S.H.A.D.E., Conan The Barbarian, Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand, Batwoman (that's Amy Reeder's cover at top), Uncanny X-Men, the last issue of Jason Aaron's Wolverine run, Saga, and a reprint of the ultra-trippy 1980s Spider-Man story Hooky, which featured art by Bernie Wrightson.

Graphic Novels

Dollhouse: Epitaphs is out in trade paperback, as are reprints of the entire run of old-school I, Vampire stories and the sixth volume of Hitman. The next book from Marvel's new-readers line, Daredevil: Season One, is out on hardcover (preview here).

Courtesy of Marvel Comics, here's an exclusive first look at Daredevil: Season One, an…
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Finally, the final hardcover collection of PunisherMAX is out in stores along with the third trade paperback of that series. And as usual, here's the list of everything being released to comic stores tomorrow, and you can find your nearest comic retailer here. Happy reading, gang!